“Vice Principals” (Season 1)
Startdate/Slot: July 17th/ Sundays, HBO
Synopsis: Comedy set in a high school, centering on the ambitious, plotting vice principals who run the place.
What You Need To Know: “Eastbound & Down’ has already passed into comedy lore thanks to a near faultless run from 2009 to 2013, even succeeding when it returned for a fourth season having apparently ended after the third. We’ve been keenly waiting to see what creators Jody Hill and Danny McBride would do next, and the result should arrive later this year with “Vice Principals,” a high-school-set comedy. Making the central characters educators should go some way to giving McBride a chance to show a different side to his persona from ‘Eastbound,’ and he’s got a hugely talented co-lead this time around: the great Walton Goggins, hot off “The Hateful Eight.” Busy Phillips, Shea Whigham, Dale Dickey and R.J. Cyler also co-star, while Will Ferrell and Bill Murray are expected to cameo. With all that and David Gordon Green directing episodes again, it’s no wonder that HBO have already picked up 18 episodes (likely to be spread over two or even three seasons)
“Bojack Horseman” (Season 3)
Startdate/Slot: July 22nd/Netflix
Synopsis: When we left him last, half-man, half-horse Bojack (Will Arnett) was embarking on an Oscar campaign, while feline agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris) was about to set up on her own and Diane (Alison Brie) and Mr Peanutbutter (Paul F Tompkins) faced a crisis in their relationship.
What You Need To Know: Bonkers industry satire, a relatively crude drawing style and surreally touching characterization have always set the terrific “Bojack Horseman” aside from the more standard American-family-sitcom and adult-skewing kids cartoons that comprise the Golden Age of TV’s current animation division. And with Season 2 leaving many burning questions open, especially in relation to Bojack’s ongoing quest for fame, and Diane and Mr Peanutbutter’s marriage, we really can’t wait to dive back into its skewed yet charming universe. Created by comedian and writer Raphael Bob-Waksberg, ‘Bojack’ is among the most original of Netflix Originals, and has provided a consistently hilarious series of cameos and recurring roles for everyone from Angela Bassett to Aaron Paul to Ken Jeong, Wallace Shawn, Naomi Watts, Stephen Colbert and more. Really, any cartoon in which character actress Margo Martindale plays “Character Actress Margo Martindale” basically has us on board for life.
“Looking: The Movie” (TV Movie)
Startdate/Slot: Airs July 17th on HBO.
Synopsis: Patrick returns to San Francisco for the first time in a year, and must face the relationships he left unresolved there.
What You Need To Know: Billed as HBO’s non-hetero answer to “Girls,” “Looking,” Michael Lannan and Andrew Haigh’s look at a group of gay young men in San Francisco, was ultimately too subtle and exquisite to connect with a wider audience even on the pay cable network, and HBO cancelled it after its second season. But there was a silver lining: as with “Hello Ladies” before it, a one-off movie special would air to help wrap up the story, and it arrives this summer, much to the excitement of fans. Since the last season, its big names have gone on to bigger things: star Jonathan Groff has been wowing Broadway audiences in “Hamilton,” while Haigh (who returns to direct the film here) broke out even further thanks to the extraordinary “45 Years.” It’s unlikely to cause a ratings boost that would convince HBO to bring the show back more permanently, but fans sill likely just be happy to be reunited with Patrick, Richie, Eddie, Agustin, Dom, Doris, Kevin & co. And non-fans get a new Andrew Haigh movie, so everybody wins.
“The Get Down” (Season 1)
Startdate/Slot: August 12th/Netflix (first 6 episodes)
Synopsis: The story of New York during the birth of disco, hip-hop and punk, told through the eyes of a group of teenagers.
What You Need To Know: Summer TV looks to be saving the best til last, with the debut of “The Get Down” in mid-August. Co-created by the unlikely combination of “The Shield” mastermind Shawn Ryan and director Baz Luhrmann (with acclaimed playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis also among the key creatives), it’s a music driven coming-of-age drama with terrific production values, and if we were excited about it on paper, the positively electric trailer that Netflix debuted back in January has had us champing at the bit ever since. Luhrmann can be a little hit and miss (“The Great Gatsby” being decidedly a miss), but he should be nicely balanced by his other collaborators here. And the cast seems fascinating, with veterans like Jimmy Smits, Giancarlo Esposito, Eric Bogosian and Kevin Corrigan rubbing shoulders with new talents Justice Smith, Herizen Guardiola, “Dope” star Shameik Moore and Skylan Brooks, along with unexpected faces like Jaden Smith and “Hamilton” breakout Daveed Diggs. The makers of the deeply disappointing, similarly-set “Vinyl” must be nervously looking over their shoulders.
“You’re the Worst” (Season 3)
Startdate/Slot: August 31st/Wednesdays 10pm FXX
Synopsis: The continuing relationship travails of Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) two of the most irredeemably self-centered and self-defeating characters ever to fall for each other, as well as those of Gretchen’s would-be complacent society-wife best friend Lindsay (Kether Donohue).
What You Need To Know: Just when you think there can be nothing new under the relationship sitcom sun, “You’re the Worst” comes along and, while not reinventing the wheel, at least adds some brand new spokes. By far the spikiest anti-romantic romcom series on TV, the show, which is run by “Orange is the New Black” and “Weeds” alumnus Stephen Falk, then impressed even further by kicking it up a notch for its follow-up season, which means that expectations are basically stratospheric for outing number 3. Proving a breakout showcase especially for its female leads (Cash and Donoghue were both nominated at the Critics Choice TV awards, as was the show overall) what sets it apart is a refusal to soften or compromise on the dreadfulness of characters, whom you perversely end up rooting for anyway. Or at least for their relationship to work, so that it takes them out of the general dating pool.
As ever, there’s plenty more what that came from that didn’t make the list. June 1st brings the SundanceTV debut of intriguing Australian drama “Cleverman,” which sees “The Sapphires” director Wayne Blair drawing on Indigenious Australian mythology in a “District 9”-style dystopia. In second season news, “Casual” returns to Hulu on June 7th and “Naked Gun”-style cop comedy “Angie Tribeca” with Rashida Jones comes back to TBS on June 6th, while the second part of the second season of Frank Grillo-starring MMA drama “Kingdom” hits June 2nd.
On TNT, Rhys Darby stars in desert island comedy “Wrecked” on June 14th, which is the same day that CBS debut their “Uncle Buck” reboot starring Mike Epps. Charles Manson drama “Aquarius” returns to NBC on June 16th with stars David Duchovny and Gethin Anthony still in tow, while James Franco’s tiresome remake of Lifetime Original Movie “Mother May I Sleep With Danger?” airs on June 18th.
Oprah moves into TV drama producing with OWN’s interesting-sounding “Greenleaf,” about a Memphis megachurch and starring Keith David and Lynn Whitfield. That begins on June 21st. CBS drama “American Gothic” (sadly unconnected to the awesome Sam Raimi/Gary Cole show from the 1990s) hits the day after, while BBC America debut acclaimed UK export “Thirteen,” a sort of TV take on “Room,” on June 23rd.
People are apparently still watching “Ray Donovan,” and that comes back to Showtime on June 26th, while Denis Leary vehicle “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” also comes back to FX on June 30th, while Netflix debuts both UK crime drama export “Marcella” and the second season of “Marco Polo” on July 1st. “Tyrant” returns to FX on July 6th, while the very funny “Difficult People” with Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner” begins its second season on Hulu on July 12th.
Autism drama “The A Word” starring Christopher Eccleston hits Sundance on July 13th, while July 17th brings the return of both The Rock’s “Ballers” on HBO and Starz’s “Power.” SEAL Team drama “Six,” starring Walton Goggins, begins on History on July 18th, while “Survivor’s Remorse” comes back to Starz on July 24th. Finally, subtitle fans should keep an eye on the arrival of Italian crime drama “Gommorah,” based on the film, on Sundance on August 24th, while the third series of Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Strain” kicks off August 28th.
